Grant Management Software: Why is it Integral?
Grant management systems are witnessing ample kinetic thrust with superlative institution-based adoption encompassing both government and non-government institutions as well as research houses educational institutions as well as corporates at large.
Fund management is a critical affair, where high levels of transparency and clarity are expected in transactions and record maintenance, inclusive of grant reception and donation.
Stringency in grant management protocols levied by international organizations such as the US Office of Management and Budget, or The European Development Fund and other similar institutions ensure uncompromised transparency and protocol adherence.
Therefore, institutions dealing in grant management are expected to maintain optimum communication and co-operation to ensure well maintained records of fund transactions favoring precision in grant management lifecycle.
Grant Management Lifecycle
Grant management from a receiver perspective includes proposal writing and application, maintaining real time data and track records of the funds received and their respective allocation to adequately meet the needs previously mentioned in grant proposal.
Additionally, the donor institutions or fund providers ought to maintain a clear logbook of grant review applications, funds disbursement and ensuring judicious funds optimization amongst the receiver institutions tallying with the grant proposal records.
In a nutshell, grant management constitutes a three-tier process comprising pre-awarding, awarding and the post awarding phase, encapsulating specific functionalities on the parts of both recipient and the donor.
How does Grant Management Software Aids in Financial Transparency?
Grant management process is a highly desirable and essential process to ensure highest standards of financial transparency. However, maintaining grant process with high degree of agility and transparency calls for technological interventions for best output and efficiency acceleration.
The most debilitating outcome of inefficient grant management infrastructure is huge financial risk stemming from a mishandled, poorly managed and inadequate tracking system that eventually augment in tremendous financial burden. Additionally, voluminous data burden and paper based record-keeping has demonstrated several challenges.
Organizations have therefore come to realize the pressing needs of grant management software which is designed to bolster efficiencies, facilitate record maintenance and optimization.
Having recognized the potential of grant management software, the task of making the right choice for a competent grant management software may be draining, requiring organizations to make the right choice meeting the parameters of high efficiency and affordability.
Why Grant Management Software is a Wise Investment over Legacy Logbook
Real-time Opportunity Assessment
- Grant management software is an application-based workflow enabling automated and streamlined operations in opportunity mapping, real-time monitoring and tracking, besides ensuring high end collaboration
Agile Tracking
- Ready notifications and alert systems pertaining to new funding source references is just one of the many advantages of a grant management software
Transparent Documentation:
- Easy access to crucial information such as important contacts, budget, history and the like are all collated and organized at a singular datapoint
Outcome Monitoring:
- A round-the-clock tracking platform to monitor date-wise status, overall amounts and tracking submission methods to ensure end-to-end completion and status update.
Transparent Communication Platform
- An easy to follow communication matrix to ensure steady collaboration across stakeholders besides also enabling intra-organization employee communication
Calendar Tools for Schedule Maintenance
- Advanced calendar tools are also included in grant management software that appropriately address the concerns of project schedules
Presentation Readiness
- An ideal grant management software allows quick and easy report generation and aids in collation of financial statements denoting financial responsibility. Most grant management software also aids in documentation and articulation of proposal writing to ensure desired funding response from donor fraternity.
Multilingual Program
- Most grant management software offer language translation feasibility that allows users to translate the report contents into desired languages.
How COVID-19 Plays the Catalyst in Accelerated Adoption of SaaS-based Grant Management Software
One of the most trending developments parallel to pandemic outbreak is fast track digitization in grant management software ecosystem.
In a recent development, all legacy, conventional grant management infrastructure got a face lift as the Dept. of Housing and Community Development in California steered SaaS based grant management software adoption.
The development initiated in the trailing weeks of 2019 proved highly profitable at hindsight as it accelerated fund allocation and disbursement, followed by mandatory monitoring and tracking across disparate locations under the CARES program Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security.
eGrant Management Software Benefits and Advantages
- eGrant management system are gaining fast track momentum owing to meet the scaling needs of data management in a paper-free ecosystem. A customized and tailor-made SaaS grant management software is likely to offer the greatest advantages. SaaS and cloud-based grant management software
- Cloud-based grant management is steadily replacing on-premise system to offset inefficiencies resulting from manual processing and data loss.
- Digital transformation of grant management has rapidly stemmed from the rising privacy issues and concerns.
- What remains most crucial in global grant management ecosystem is mobile compatibility, to support mobile features and customized landing page.
GTY’s and Grant Thorton Empowering Digital Grant Management for Government Institutions
GTY, best known for its corporate ventures with technological companies to offer high end cloud based solution suite has partnered with Grant Thorton which is a SaaS based supply chain company. GTY specializes in various areas such as payments, budgeting and grant management.
The collaboration is expected to accelerate cloud based operations in budgeting and grant management for local governments. Grant Thorton is has recently been trending owing to its expedition with Sherpa Government Solutions on the eCivis platform designed for grant management operations.
These developments are anticipated to reflect favorably on the future adoption and development scope of grant management software.
As we Conclude:
It is therefore safer to conclude that digital investment in grant management perhaps has been quite an aspirational vision for long, but with the pandemic and its aftermath likely to remain inevitable at least in the foreseeable future, a rapid shift to grant management software solutions for digital transformation has become immediate necessity.